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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/29/hillsborough-birmingham-bombing-victims-inquest-must-get-legal-help
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| Like Hillsborough, the families of the Birmingham bombing victims must get legal help | Like Hillsborough, the families of the Birmingham bombing victims must get legal help |
| (25 days later) | |
| For 23 years after the Hillsborough disaster I asked the same question: what happened to my brother? When the inquest finally took place, it was another four years before my legal team and I extracted the answer from the state. Every family should have the right to be legally represented, so that their voices can be heard. | For 23 years after the Hillsborough disaster I asked the same question: what happened to my brother? When the inquest finally took place, it was another four years before my legal team and I extracted the answer from the state. Every family should have the right to be legally represented, so that their voices can be heard. |
| So I would like to ask Theresa May and the new home secretary, Amber Rudd, why our case was funded but the families of the Birmingham bomb victims is not. They suffered as we did, fought as we did, their evidence was withheld as was ours was and to this day they still do not know what happened to their loved ones. These inquests are an opportunity to put that right, and like every bereaved family who faces an inquest they have a right to fully participate in the process. How can the state justify funding our inquests but not theirs? | So I would like to ask Theresa May and the new home secretary, Amber Rudd, why our case was funded but the families of the Birmingham bomb victims is not. They suffered as we did, fought as we did, their evidence was withheld as was ours was and to this day they still do not know what happened to their loved ones. These inquests are an opportunity to put that right, and like every bereaved family who faces an inquest they have a right to fully participate in the process. How can the state justify funding our inquests but not theirs? |
| They deserve the truth and justice for their loved ones and they deserve to go to their own graves in peace | They deserve the truth and justice for their loved ones and they deserve to go to their own graves in peace |
| The police and the state don’t have to fight for funding for representation, they get that automatically. Our government even provides legal aid to Iraqis in Iraq to sue our army. West Midlands Police have apparently already put £1m aside for legal fees – and I’m sure more will be available if it’s needed. All the families are asking of the state is for equality of representation – and thereby equality of arms. If the police are to be represented, doesn’t it follow that the families who have lost the most should be? | The police and the state don’t have to fight for funding for representation, they get that automatically. Our government even provides legal aid to Iraqis in Iraq to sue our army. West Midlands Police have apparently already put £1m aside for legal fees – and I’m sure more will be available if it’s needed. All the families are asking of the state is for equality of representation – and thereby equality of arms. If the police are to be represented, doesn’t it follow that the families who have lost the most should be? |
| For decades these families have funded their battle for justice against extraordinary odds. It is cruel and unjustifiable to ask them to continue paying for it themselves. It is absolutely appalling for this to be happening in our country. What’s more, it is simply impossible for families to fund inquests on this scale. It is so very wrong, to ask this of these families and their loved ones who have done absolutely nothing wrong. If the state had done its job properly in the beginning, and not lied, coerced and covered up then there would be no need for a second inquest. Like us families of the Hillsborough victims, all they seek is the truth. | For decades these families have funded their battle for justice against extraordinary odds. It is cruel and unjustifiable to ask them to continue paying for it themselves. It is absolutely appalling for this to be happening in our country. What’s more, it is simply impossible for families to fund inquests on this scale. It is so very wrong, to ask this of these families and their loved ones who have done absolutely nothing wrong. If the state had done its job properly in the beginning, and not lied, coerced and covered up then there would be no need for a second inquest. Like us families of the Hillsborough victims, all they seek is the truth. |
| As with Hillsborough, the Birmingham inquests will be a complex process. Who would have drafted our legal submissions, who would have made them verbally in court, who would have talked us through the issues and navigated the thousands and thousands of pages of evidence if we had not had state funding for our legal team? This was the only way we could ensure our voices were heard. If not, the other families and I would not have been able to take part. I would not even have been able to attend the inquests. We were our loved ones’ voices, and it was via our legal representatives that their voices were heard in court. We were also given a counsellor who was on site daily, which was a service I took advantage of many times over the two years. Some days are gut-wrenching and heartbreaking, and without that support, I don’t know what I would have done. | As with Hillsborough, the Birmingham inquests will be a complex process. Who would have drafted our legal submissions, who would have made them verbally in court, who would have talked us through the issues and navigated the thousands and thousands of pages of evidence if we had not had state funding for our legal team? This was the only way we could ensure our voices were heard. If not, the other families and I would not have been able to take part. I would not even have been able to attend the inquests. We were our loved ones’ voices, and it was via our legal representatives that their voices were heard in court. We were also given a counsellor who was on site daily, which was a service I took advantage of many times over the two years. Some days are gut-wrenching and heartbreaking, and without that support, I don’t know what I would have done. |
| I would like to appeal directly to the home secretary and ask her to treat the families of the 21 with the same fairness and respect that we Hillsborough families received from her predecessor. Theresa May delivered what she promised to us and I personally am very grateful for that. | I would like to appeal directly to the home secretary and ask her to treat the families of the 21 with the same fairness and respect that we Hillsborough families received from her predecessor. Theresa May delivered what she promised to us and I personally am very grateful for that. |
| These inquests are an opportunity to put right a 40-year-old injustice and to end the despair of these families. They must be given the same opportunity as others in the inquest. They deserve the truth and justice for their loved ones and they deserve to go to their own graves in peace, not like my parents and other Hillsborough relatives who didn’t live to find out how or why their loved ones died. | These inquests are an opportunity to put right a 40-year-old injustice and to end the despair of these families. They must be given the same opportunity as others in the inquest. They deserve the truth and justice for their loved ones and they deserve to go to their own graves in peace, not like my parents and other Hillsborough relatives who didn’t live to find out how or why their loved ones died. |